Out of Nowhere
by princ3ssf33t
Summary: Upon meeting the famed Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, Rey had certain expectations. When none of them are met, Rey is left trying to figure out how to complete her mission. And if her visions would stop afflicting her whenever she closed her eyes, that would be great. Background Luke/Mara


**A/N: I wasn't satisfied with TLJ, so when I woke up one morning with this fic in mind, I couldn't stop myself from writing it. Enjoy!**

* * *

The nightmare Rey had was not a new one. Nor was it frightening at that point. Nothing ever changed in the dream. It came during the periods of her life when turmoil rests its heavy hand against her shoulders again. It was the only constant she could count on since the time she was left on the sands of Jakku.

But when she bolted upright in the bunk she was sleeping on the _Millenium Falcon_, sweat trickling down her forehead and her heart beating fast, her hands gripped her quarterstaff with an urgency she was unfamiliar with. She hadn't felt this on edge when she was on Starkiller Base, so why would faded images of something long forgotten cause her such anxiety?

Before she allowed herself to delve deeply into any reasons why that might be, there was a knock on the door. Rey swung her legs to set her feet on the floor and she wiped the beading sweat from her forehead. She took several deep breaths before she attempted to answer the door.

"What is it?" She asked. Her tone was curt and held a level of unfriendliness to it she desperately tried to keep from reappearing now that she was surrounded by people who seemed to genuinely care about her. It was a by-product of all those years on Jakku; she didn't survive that waste of a planet by making friends.

Chewie gave a quick response. They were coming up on the planet Ahch-To and would emerge from hyperspace shortly. Rey politely thanked the Wookie and listened as he made his way back to the cockpit in order to make their final descent. She waited until she could no longer hear the heavy footsteps of the pilot before she pulled herself up and walked to the refresher.

Rey washed her face and stared into the mirror. Her thoughts were unable to keep from drifting back to the nightmare that had woken her from her sleep. The sight of the 'fresher around her seemed to fade as the scene from her dream took its place.

It had been dark. Almost too dark to see anything. That never changed. It was dark and Rey was huddled in a corner. She knew her hands were clasped around her ears trying to block the sounds of blaster fire and the whirring she knew now were lightsabers swinging through the air. Her brain had been screaming at her to run, but she stayed where she was. Then the sound of heavy footsteps came stalking along the hall she had hidden herself in.

And that was when the dream changed. Instead of waking up when a dark figure with a red lightsaber turned the corner, Rey continued further into the dream. Her hands dropped down from her ears and her eyes tracked up the dark figure that stood before her. It wasn't until she saw the mask of the figure and the swing of the red blade toward her that she woke up.

It was Kylo Ren's mask.

Rey shoved her hands under the water stream and splashed more water against her face. She didn't have the time to unpack all she had seen in her head. It was only her brain being stupid. She had a mission, and she could worry about her trauma after the First Order was defeated.

It had worked while she was on Jakku; it would work now.

After drying her face, Rey moved to the cockpit and settled into the pilot's seat. When she strapped herself in for their emergence from hyperspace, she saw Chewie's grimace out of the corner of her eye. This had been Han's seat. She grit her teeth and focused on the task in front of her. A little bit of discomfort wasn't enough to stop her. Rey took a quick glance at the displays and controls.

"Emerging from Hyperspace in three, two, one."

Chewie flipped the lever and the swirling blue light disappeared. Their vision was once again covered by black and a solitary planet floated off in the distance. Rey let out a breath. Finally, they were here.

Following the coordinates R2-D2 had fed into the computer, it didn't take them very long to descend to the planet's watery surface and land on the flattest outcropping of rock the island provided. Chewie, Rey, and the old astromech travelled from the ship to the earth and stared at what was in front of them. Chewie's eyes tracked up the worn path that lead up from their landing spot before he started moving across the gravel. Rey started to follow, but paused in order to turn and look at the expanse of ocean behind her.

She had never seen so much water all in one place before. A thought sprang to the forefront of her mind that she should grab her canteen and store as much of it as she could, before she cleared her head. There was no need to stockpile the precious commodity at the moment. Besides, she didn't even know if the water was acceptable to drink.

Rey filed it away to find out later and jumped to catch up to Chewie who had stopped to call down to her. She barely pulled up beside the Wookie and the droid when they started to walk again. R2-D2 had his sensors running and gave a series of chirps before he rolled off the path and up a grassy slope. Chewie didn't look at Rey before he started to follow the little blue and white droid. Rey readjusted the satchel over her shoulders and followed.

They climbed higher in silence.

Rey was starting to breath heavily as they crossed over a large boulder poking out of the grass. The air was heavier here. Perhaps it had to do with all of the water on the planet. Jakku was never this... this moist. She leaned against her staff and watched as Artoo rolled over the rock, wobbling over the uneven surface to stand alongside Chewie.

Chewie's loud roar startled her and she jerked to attention, staff raised defensively. Her eyes scanned for the threat.

Nothing was there.

There was only the ocean, the island, and the three of them. No, there were four of them. As Chewie shifted to look back at her, Rey could see another figure standing near the edge of a cliff. They were wearing a cloak similar to the ones the old Jedi were said to wear in the stories she had heard long ago. The figure turned to look at them.

Rey didn't lower her staff from its defensive position until she watched the figure pull back the hood from his head and she could see his face. It was Luke Skywalker.

He didn't look the way she had expected him to look. His hair was a mix between white and gray and it was untidy. There were lines on his face that were worn deeper than she had seen on individuals from Jakku. He looked old.

Not that she wasn't expecting him to look old. She was. He had been a young man when the Empire was defeated, and it had been decades since that time. She had expected to see signs of aging, but not to the extent she was seeing here. Luke Skywalker didn't just look old, he looked worn down, broken.

Skywalker stared at the new arrivals on his island. For a moment, no one said anything.

What should she say? Could she explain everything? Should she even be the one to speak first?

Luckily for her, Skywalker's voice broke the sound of the ocean first.

"Chewie? Is that really you?"

His voice sounded like it hadn't been used in years. It cracked on the last word.

Chewie rumbled the affirmative in the back of his throat, took the few steps that the Wookie needed to reach the Jedi Master, and wrapped the man in his arms. Skywalker couldn't make much more of a protest than a sound that escaped his throat before the strength in the Wookie's arms cut off the air from Skywalker's lungs. Skywalker's hands reached up and patted Chewie hesitantly on the back.

Chewie broke off the hug before he could completely suffocate the Jedi Master and held the man out at arm's length. Chewie made sure that Skywalker was looking him right in the face before he started to explain everything. He told Skywalker what had happened since his exile, and intermingled it by berating the man for choosing the path of exile. Rey could barely keep up with what the Wookie said; she didn't get many opportunities to speak Shyriiwook back on Jakku.

Wookies generally didn't like the desert and avoided it when they could.

Skywalker may have been having a similar issue as well. Being isolated on an island for decades with no one else to talk with probably didn't help when it came to maintaining additional languages. He nodded along for the most part when it came to Chewie's words, but occasionally his face would contort as he missed something important. And Chewie wasn't pausing for any breaths to allow Skywalker a chance to open his mouth to repeat anything.

The only time Chewie stopped to take a breath was when it came time to talk about what had happened in the past week. About what happened on Starkiller base. About what happened to Han.

There was silence between them all. Only the sound of the waves crashing against the rock and Artoo's mournful whir filled the air.

"Who was it?" Skywalker asked finally. No one answered him. "Chewie, _who was it_?"

Chewie shook his great head and dropped his hands from Skywalker's shoulders. The Wookie was about to take a step back from the Jedi Master but the old man's hands were much quicker than anyone expected, and Skywalker had a firm grip around Chewie's wrist. Skywalker stared up into Chewie's face, his own pleading for an answer he already knew in his heart.

"It was Kylo Ren," Rey said, speaking for the first time since they had found the Jedi. "Ben Solo."

Master Skywalker turned sharply to look at Rey, taking in her full appearance for the first time since they walked up to him. For a moment there was confusion in his eyes over her presence, but it soon morphed into something Rey would later akin to terror. His hand dropped Chewie's wrist. He took a step back from them.

"No, it can't be," Skywalker muttered. "It can't be."

Suddenly he turned to the sky and screamed.

"What more do you want from me?!"

Rey noticed that she wasn't the only one taken aback by the sudden passion. While she took a step back from the older man, Chewie had not, but she did notice that some of the fur stood on edge when Skywalker shouted. Artoo chirped and rolled closer to the Wookie.

Skywalker himself dropped down to sit on a rock. One hand rose to press against his forehead and the other grabbed at the robe above his knee. Rey saw as his shoulders shook violently from the sobs he was keeping silent.

Rey tore her gaze from the Jedi Master and looked at Chewie, lost as to what should be done. This had not been what she was expecting when they found the famed Jedi Master from legend. Luke Skywalker had been a powerful Jedi, a warrior that had defeated the Emperor, a master of the Force.

This was not that person.

Who sat before them was a shadow of who she thought would be. A man who time had beat down and broken. Someone so worn down by experience, the thought of fighting what the universe dealt out for them just didn't seem worth the energy needed to do so. Rey understood that feeling frequently; it had threatened to overwhelmed her many nights on Jakku.

She didn't think that the Hero of the Rebellion would have suffered those feelings, let alone allow them to consume him.

"Master Skywalker, the Resistance is in desperate need of your help," Rey said, gathering her courage and took a step forward.

He looked up at her and he did nothing to hide the tears that had been running from his eyes. His face was blotchy underneath the tear tracks. Master Skywalker gave her a deeper frown and shook his head at her.

"I can't help you. You're better off asking the New Republic for assistance." He gave a sardonic chuckle. "What can one old man do for you now?"

"The New Republic is gone, Master Skywalker," Rey said sharply. "The First Order destroyed the whole Hosnian System."

Master Skywalker's blotchy face drained of all color. His grey face could have been carved from one of the rocks that surrounded them. If he wasn't already seated, Rey was sure that the man would have collapsed to the ground. Perhaps she should have spared some pity for the man, he had been stranded on this island for years with no contact from the outside world, but she found herself unable to muster it. Surely he would have known something terrible had happened out in the universe. Wasn't that what the Force was known for anyway? Being the thing that connected all living things?

Rey pressed forward and dug the lightsaber from her satchel. She held it out to him and pressed it into his hands. Chewie growled lowly at her, warning her that now may not have been the best time for that. Rey ignored him and stepped back without the lightsaber.

"The galaxy needs the Jedi, Master Skywalker. Unfortunately, you're the only one it has left. You must help us."

If Chewie, or even the droid, and anything to say to her, it was lost. Rey stared down the man General Organa-Solo thought would come and save them. She had made a promise to the woman that she would bring her brother home to her, and she never failed to keep her promises before. And she wasn't about to start now.

Master Skywalker's mouth twitched at the corners. Rey couldn't tell if he was amused or not.

He looked down at the blue saber in his hands and nodded before standing up. For a moment, Rey hoped he would follow them and board the _Millenium Falcon _and they could save what was left of the New Republic. But just as silently as he had accepted the lightsaber she had dropped into his hands, he handed it back to her and walked away.

Rey stared at the lightsaber in her hand. Had he just-? She met Chewie's eyes for a brief moment before she whirled around to stare incredulously at Skywalker's back.

"Master Skywalker?!" She called.

He didn't look back. He just kept walking down the hillside away from them. Rey readjusted the straps of her staff and bag and started jogging to follow Skywalker. She could hear Chewie and the droid following her as they moved through the grass as well.

For an old man, Master Skywalker moved quickly over the rough terrain down the cliffside. Rey wondered if he was drawing energy from the Force to keep up such a pace, or if years of living alone on this island, with none of the conveniences that were commonplace in civilized society, had been all that had been needed to keep him in such shape. Rey herself had a little trouble keeping up with him.

Ahch-To was very different from Jakku.

By the time Rey had caught up with the old Jedi Master, he had slammed a heavy metal door in her face. Undeterred, Rey knocked with her staff heavily on the door.

"Master Skywalker! Please! We need your help."

There was no answer from inside the stone hut.

"Master Skywalker!"

"Don't!"

Finally, Rey got a response from the old Jedi. Her brow knit in confusion and she waited for more.

"Don't call me 'Master Skywalker.' That's not who I am. Not anymore." There were pauses between each sentence, almost like what he was saying hurt him in a way Rey couldn't understand. She turned around to see that Chewie and Artoo-Detoo had made their way down and were watching the door just beyond her.

"Please, leave me be."

Rey spun on the spot at the last plea of Skywalker, and her anger flared. Without thinking, she kicked out at the door. The resounding clang brought her some satisfaction, but it was marred by the sudden pain in her foot. She let out a few short curses from one of the many languages she had learned while trapped on Jakku.

"I made a promise to your sister!" Rey shouted through the door. "I'm not going to leave here until you climb aboard the _Falcon _and we help those that need you!"

Despite the pain, she kicked the door again, satisfied by the ring that rang out and sat down on the ground right outside the door. Rey could hear a voice in the back of her head telling her that she was acting like a petulant child throwing a tantrum, but she silenced it with the biting thought that she couldn't give a kriff.

She crossed her arms across her chest and ignored the sharp stones digging into her back. Rey tried to prevent her glare from scaring Chewie or the droid, but she got the idea that they pitied her instead.

She ignored them and settled in for the long wait.

* * *

_The air was thick with smoke and screams. And all she could do was stare at the temple as it burned. All those years of work, all the beings that had devoted their resources to rebuilding what stood there, and it was burning before her very eyes._

_A blaster bolt bore down upon them from the darkness and a tree exploded near her as the bolt made contact. The children that had taken refuge behind her screamed and clung to her even tighter. There was so much noise, from the fire that was consuming the temple, their home, to the sobs and screams of the younglings that had fled, that she almost didn't hear the rhythmic marching of their attackers as they made their way from the temple toward the woods where they were hiding._

_She looked at the children and took in their faces for what she hoped wouldn't be the last time. Their faces were covered in dirt and soot, with the only clean portions of their face from the tears that had slipped from their eyes. Some of them had blood already beginning to clot on their clothes and hair. She looked to the oldest, a Togruta male, who wasn't any older than thirteen standard years. She rested a hand on his shoulder and leaned down to look him in the eye._

"_I need you to lead the younglings deeper into the forest. I will cause a distraction so you can escape. You do remember where to go?"_

_The Togruta nodded and she watched as he gathered the children together and ran deeper into the forest. She watched as they faded into the darkness and sent a prayer through the Force that they would be able to reach their destination safely._

Wait, pray?

_But she spent no more time in that moment and hurried to confront the assailants that disrupted their lives. She ran quickly and quietly through the cabins scattered throughout the area surrounding the temple. When she came across students hiding, she directed them toward the woods, where hopefully rescue would await them, and when she came across any of the party that was contributing towards this attack, she did her best to incapacitate them without alerting any of their other members._

_It worked, but not well enough. She had only made it halfway to the temple when she was spotted and began to take blaster fire from the others that had come to assist their fallen comrade. She deflected as many of the bolts as she could with her lightsaber, but one still pierced through her defences and landed on her shoulder._

_The attackers were closing in on her, and she needed to end this quickly. For everyone's sakes. Gathering as much strength and energy as she could, she paused for a moment before she sent out a concussive blast through the Force._

_All firing stopped as the Knights of Ren were flung into the air. They each landed heavily again, and although some moaned and shifted along the ground, there was no doubt that they were not going to get up any time soon._

_The sound of a small explosion from inside the temple caught her attention and she spun to stare at the burning building._

"_Ben, what have you done?"_

Ben?— No, it's Kylo.

_A scream broke through the night and her heart jumped to her throat. No, it couldn't be— Surely he wouldn't have been so—_

_She was running into the burning temple and screaming at the top of her lungs. She couldn't hear herself scream, couldn't hear any of the words that were leaving her throat, but she could feel the fear that was welling up inside her, threatening to overcome her._

_The heat was intense all around her. The flames licked at her body whenever they felt like it, and while she attempted to keep a protective shield around her with the Force to keep the flames at bay, but her concentration was not easily divided when her emotion took control of nearly all of her thoughts. It was the opposite of a Hoth blizzard but an equally painful experience._

Hoth?

_But there, through the yellow and blue flames, she spotted a small figure running through the flames, making a break for a portion of wall that had crumbled to reveal the dark forest outside. She didn't need to stretch out with the Force to know who was running. Nor was the Force required to know who the tall figure in dark robes was chasing them._

_She pushed herself as hard as she could go, drawing on the Force to assist her speed. She leapt over a portion of a crumbled wall and was soon on the trail of the figures. She could see the red lightsaber in the hands of the tall figure. Ben._

_He hacked away at obstacles in his way that the small figure had been able to deftly avoid or duck under. There was nothing but fury fuelling his rampage, and the forms that she had spent so many patient hours teaching him, were sloppy._

_Ahead, the small figure tripped over a beam that had fallen from the ceiling and landed on their hands and knees. They barely had the opportunity to push themselves up to their knees before Ben had launched himself into the air, brandishing his bleeding lightsaber with the intent to bring it down on the small figure._

_It was now or never._

_She threw herself into the line of fire and ignited her own lightsaber._

_It was green._

Why was it green?

_She had no time to think before Ben's blade landed against her own. She bent under the pressure before she pushed back. Ben disconnected and was thrown back a few meters. The hatred in Ben's eyes caused a sharp intake of breath from her. She knew that she shouldn't take her eyes from Ben, he was the threat, he was the enemy. Yet she turned and looked to the young one she was protecting._

_And saw Rey._

No, she was Rey.

_Little Rey stared with wide-eyed fear at the scene that was playing out in front of her. Her small attempts to crawl away through the rubble stalled. Despite the fear that could still be felt, little Rey's eyes held a spark of hope at her arrival. She tried to give a smile, just to assure her that things would be alright._

_Maybe not now, but someday._

_Ben gave another loud scream, and resumed his relentless attack. She turned her attention back to Ben, defending herself from the barrage, seeing multiple opportunities to press the attack, but never taking the opportunity. If Ben would just allow her to speak, to try and understand what happened. She caught his blade against hers and leaned in order for Ben to hear what was said._

"_Ben, talk to me, we can work through this."_

"_NO! You could never understand! NONE of you could!"_

"_Please, let me—"_

"_Luke!"_

_She spun to see another figure step into the light of the fire. It was difficult to see through the smoke and distortion given off by the heat of the fire. But she could see a woman, it was clearly a woman, picking up the little Rey and holding her close to her. Despite the danger and the child in her arms, she was coming closer. At her side there was ignited lightsaber._

It's purple.

_And the fear that had been threatening to overwhelm her surged, and for a few moments there was nothing else. Just terror._

"_Mara! Run!"_

_And before anything else could be done, there was a yell from behind her, and the structure around them shook. A glance at Ben said it all. He was going to bring down the building on top of them. All of them._

_There was no thinking involved. It was pure instinct and trust in the Force. As the walls and ceiling were beginning their descent on top of them, she pushed the little Rey and the woman with the purple lightsaber out of the danger zone._

_Then everything came crashing down._

* * *

Rey bolted upright. There was a film of sweat covering her entire body and her chest was heaving from the deep breaths she was taking. Her eyes darted around, searching for danger. They narrowed at the sight of the fire in front of her, and she was halfway standing before her brain processed what exactly she was seeing.

Chewie had set up a campfire and was sitting around it with Artoo. At the sight of her sudden movement he turned from the fire and growled a question.

"No, I'm fine, Chewie," Rey tried to say.

Chewie gave a low rumble in the back of his throat. He didn't believe her.

"It was just a nightmare," Rey snapped. "I'm fine."

There was a small huff from Chewie that indicated that he didn't believe her. But he turned back to tend to the fire in front of him. Rey let out a breath and settled back into the place where she had fallen asleep.

Rey pulled her poncho tighter around herself and tried to clear her frantic mind. But the more she tried to order her thoughts into something that would make sense for her overactive brain, the more disjointed everything became inside her own head.

She had never seen that scene before. Rey had experienced some vibrant and violent dreams in her life, but they had always held true to experiences she had lived through; her first real fight for survival on Jakku, all the subsequent ones that followed, the sight of her parents flying off into space, her fear of the dark, and she knew, in time, everything that had happened on Starkiller Base would find its own place in her nightmares as well. But there was nothing in her history that related to fire.

Jakku was already a barren wasteland, there wasn't anything there for any fire to consume. Certainly not where she had been located in any case. There had been rumors of settlements that were made out of material other than downed ships and mud, but those individuals were well-known to be off-worlders, and had generally brought those materials with them before they settled in that wasteland. Rey had never seen them.

There just was nothing to burn on Jakku.

Rey pulled her poncho even tighter around herself. She could still feel the heat from the flames licking against her skin. It was nothing like the heat from the sun. Whereas the sun that shone down from Jakku was constant, there was no place from which she could escape it's touch, the fire burned unevenly. Her skin had burned where it was open and facing the flame, but would feel as cold as the night that covered the rest of the grounds.

She had never felt a fire burn that closely to her before. Or if she had, she couldn't remember.

There were a lot of things she couldn't remember about her life before.

Rey bit her lip and stared at the crackling flames of the campfire Chewie had started. She was vaguely aware of what was happening just outside her realm of focus. Artoo was emitting a constant hum, meaning he had powered down all unnecessary functions and was running on low power. Rey knew machines and droids better than anyone; if what she was told was correct, the R2 unit had been in such a state since Skywalker had gone into exile. It wasn't uncommon for the mechanics to require periods of rest after such a long period of disuse.

On the edge of the fire-light, she knew Chewie was sitting there. She felt rather than saw him working on another mechanical contraption that had separated from the _Millenium Falcon_. She could feel the focus he had while wielding the hydrospanner. It was with a delicate finesse one wouldn't think a Wookie possessed. Rey could also feel the concern he had for her swell in his mind before he would push it back and double down on the broken object in front of him.

She could also feel fear. Someone was in the grip of their fear, and it echoed within the part of herself that connected to the Force. As Rey stared into the fire's flames, she tried to reason the fear away. To stamp it down and bury it. It had worked all the years she was on Jakku, there was nothing to suggest that it wouldn't work again for her now. She just had to concentrate.

But her concentration slipped away as a loud pop came from the fire. Rey tensed and her eyes broke from the glazed trance she had been falling under. She glared at the fire a few moments longer for disturbing her concentration before she suddenly stood.

Chewie tore his attention away from the work in his hands and a rumble emerged from his throat. Rey listened but did not turn to him as she picked up the bag that held Skywalker's lightsaber and slung it over her shoulders.

"I'm going for a walk Chewie. I don't know when I'll be back. Don't let Skywalker… do… whatever. Just don't let him leave, I guess. Try and talk him out of whatever funk he's in." Rey didn't wait for the response from the Wookie, but stomped off into the darkness. She needed to clear her head, and she preferred to be alone.

Rey stalked without much thought as to where she was going. She knew that she should at least be somewhat aware of the terrain around her. It was so different than Jakku, all rock and jagged edges above a cold ocean.

A fitting exile for a man who abandoned his duty to the universe. Alone, cold, and surrounded by dozens of painful ways to die.

She was being spiteful, she knew. But she squashed a clump of grass underneath her foot and didn't dwell any more upon it.

Not for the first time, she wondered what drove the last Jedi, the galaxy's hero, from civilization. All she had heard from the stories whispered while she was growing up spoke of a powerful warrior who single-handedly took out the Emperor. The information she gathered from what General Organa-Solo painted the man as a kind, humble man who never seemed to really grow out of the farmer roots he had been raised in. She didn't know which one was accurate at the time when the universe had last seen him, but the man she had met was neither one of them.

Rey stumbled over a rock that blended in with the darkness and she fell to the ground. She didn't cry out as the damp rock beneath her tore open the skin of her palms, but did allow herself a hiss as she rolled to sit and pulled her hands up to her face to see them. The darkness made it difficult to see how bad the damage was, but she could just make out by the moonlight and the stars that it would require at least some medical attention to remove the shards of rock. Once she got back to the settlement.

She wasn't ready to quite be around the crew she arrived with. Not that they would really ask a lot of questions, neither one of them were terribly talkative, but she didn't want to feel whatever Chewie was feeling.

Rey clenched her fists tightly and continued to walk. She wasn't sure where she was going, or even where she was, but there was something, something in the back of her mind that urged her to continue along this track. And so she followed it.

She climbed up. Not as high as when they found Master Skywalker earlier that afternoon, but high enough that Rey knew that a fall from this height would cause some damage, if not drop her into the dark water below without any remorse.

She was about to round a corner of the cliffside when she heard it. Rey froze. She listened.

There was no doubt about it. Someone was crying.

Between the shaky breaths, Rey thought she could hear someone talking, but the voice was too low for her to make out what exactly was being said. Shaking out of her stupor, Rey peered around the rock to take in the sight that lay before her.

It was a small alcove tucked into the rock. Not big enough to truly be a cave, but it could hold a few people to shield them from the sun when it shined. Rey could see no other ways in or out of the alcove, but she reasoned with herself that with the darkness around them, it would be hard to see one.

The person crying was kneeling on the ground. Or she assumed he was kneeling on the ground. He was wearing a dark cloak and she couldn't see much more than an outline of the person.

Unconsciously, Rey pressed her hand against the rock to see better. Pain shot through her palm and she quickly pulled it away from the rock. Her eyes looked at her hand in the darkness and by the time she looked back at the figure, Rey found herself looking at his face.

Luke Skywalker.

How had he managed to get out of that hut without her knowing?

"She's here. I have to go," Skywalker murmured turning back to the darkness of the alcove before he stood and faced Rey. His figure blocked her from seeing what was behind him. Almost like he didn't want her to see what was in the alcove.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. He made no move to wipe any of the evidence of his tears from his face. Rey was surprised at how strong his voice was now.

"I… I…" Rey suddenly found her voice trailing off. There was a look in Skywalker's eyes that reminded her of something, although she couldn't put the name of what it was on it. But she felt herself shrinking under the gaze, and she instinctively knew that she had been on the receiving end of looks like that before.

Skywalker's eyebrow rose and Rey couldn't keep the words contained anymore.

"I was sleeping and I had a nightmare. So, I thought that if I took a walk, I might be able to clear my head. And then I ran into you."

Skywalker let out a short breath. She wasn't sure if it was from amusement at the way she babbled, or if it was in annoyance yet for disturbing his peace again.

"And when did you cut your hands?" He asked.

Rey's head jerked down to look at her hands. There were still small stones embedded into her flesh, but thankfully the bleeding had stopped. When she looked back up at Skywalker, the question she wanted to ask was on the tip of her tongue, but she never had the chance to ask.

"I felt your pain through the Force. You're abilities are raw."

Rey's face twisted in confusion.

"You're projecting," Skywalker explained. There was a small smile at the corner of his lips. "It's a very common occurrence in younglings."

The comparison to a youngling, a _child_, sparked another flame of anger inside Rey. She was no child. She hadn't been a child since her parents abandoned her on that waste of sand that was a planet. Rey attempted to keep her face from betraying her feelings, but she just knew that she wasn't able to keep everything in check.

Skywalker's good natured amusement faded quickly.

"I apologize for the misunderstanding. It was not a comment to your youth. It's merely been a long time before I have had the privilege to feel the emotions of someone so strongly." Skywalker walked towards her and Rey was forced to back her way up the path she had followed to allow him to leave the alcove. "Let's get you back to the settlement, and we can get your hands looked at. I don't think we want to get another lecture from Chewie."

Rey followed behind the Jedi Master, much like a hound expecting to be rewarded for a job well done. It was only once they turned from the path they were following to the main gravel trail that lead back to the settlement that Rey paused and looked back at where they had come from. There was something down there. Something she could feel was still calling her to find.

Skywalker was halfway to the settlement when Rey broke the trance that spot cast over her and turned back to watch Skywalker walk away. The campfire Chewie had started was not as strong as it had been when she left, but she could see the light illuminating the inside of the cluster of stone huts.

"Are you coming?" Skywalker called back without bothering to turn around.

Rey blinked a few times and jumped to catch up with the Jedi Master. He never paused to allow her to catch up, but nevertheless they took the step into the circle of huts side by side. They walked in silence until they came into sight of the campfire and the others.

To her surprise, Skywalker stopped in his tracks at the sight of the fire. His eyes were riveted to the dancing orange and yellow flames. Rey stopped walking and turned back to him. If it weren't for the flickering light being given off by the fire, Rey was sure that his face would have the same complexion as when he got the news of Han's death and the Hosnian System.

"Master Skywalker?" She asked. She took a step in between him and the fire.

Whatever trance that took hold of the man broke and his face twitched as he tore himself free.

"Why don't you sit down? I'll be out with the medical supplies in a few minutes." And then he disappeared through the door of the stone hut he had hidden in and Rey had fallen asleep out of.

Rey watched him for a moment as he vanished, before she sat on a log that sat on the rim of the fire's light. Her hands rested on her lap, palms up.

Chewie turned his attention to Rey.

"I'm fine Chewie, I just tripped in the darkness and scraped my hands." Rey held out her palms to the Wookie. "The great Jedi Master there is worried for no reason. He just didn't want to get another lecture."

Chewie chuckled and turned back to the fire. He said something under his breath that Rey was unable to catch, but it amused him as he started to chuckle again. Rey didn't ask what he found so amusing. She stared into the fire.

Skywalker was quick to return and settled on his knees in front of Rey. A medkit that was at least twenty years old was set on the ground beside him, flipped open and Rey was surprised to see that it seemed fairly full yet. Skywalker chuckled at her surprise; no doubt feeling it through the Force.

"I tried to conserve the few medical supplies I had when I arrived. I developed other methods of healing myself soon after. They worked better in the long run, so the medkit sat unused. I figure it was time I broke it out again." Skywalker held out a hand to Rey. "May I have your palms?"

Rey held them out to him. With the mechanical hand, he held one of her hands to steady it as he used the tweezers to remove all the small bits of rock that remained embedded into her skin. He worked quickly and efficiently, only pausing in the work to move from one hand to the other. There he repeated the same process.

Once he was finished with that, he sprayed the wounds with a bacta solution and wrapped her hands with a clean bandage. Rey watched with wide eyes as each action he took was executed with the utmost care and precision. When he was finished, he grabbed her hands with his own and looked directly into her face.

"How's that?" He asked.

Rey stared down at him. But it wasn't the gray, aging Luke Skywalker crouching before her. The Skywalker before her now was younger, his hair darker, and a twinkle in his eye that Rey had not seen in the whole time since she met him. He was smiling up at her.

A vision, she told herself. Just like when she held the lightsaber for the first time. Rey's instinct was to look around her to see what other details she could find. Everything outside of Skywalker's face seemed to fade and blur into a fog.

"_There we go, how's that? Do you feel better now?"_ His voice echoed in her head.

Whomever he was talking to must have nodded, as she was unable to hear anything that constituted as a response, but the younger Skywalker nodded with a large smile spreading across his face. He reached out his arms, and Rey stared at him. What was he waiting for? Luke's smile fell.

"_Oh Nera, I'm sorry. It was an accident." _

Rey was confused. Who was Nera? What had happened?

"_Perhaps our little ray of starshine isn't ready for this?"_ Another voice said.

Rey turned sharply at the female voice. Through the fog of the vision she could barely make out the woman standing in the doorway. She was small. Although there was an air about her that exuded more power than what would be expected of someone that size. Her face was unable to be made out in the fog, but Rey recognized the bright color of the hair.

"_Momma!" _

Rey blinked and found herself staring down at the wizened face of the Jedi Master. The fire crackled behind him and she could hear Chewie's vocalizations beside them. Her eyes slowly shifted from the Jedi's face to look at everything else, anything else, before she conceded and looked at Skywalker crouching in front of her.

"What did you see?" He asked. Something was in his voice. Something Rey knew the name of, but didn't want to attach to it.

She swallowed thickly.

"You." Her tongue felt like gravity had increased hundredfold. "You were apologizing to someone."

"Who was it?" Skywalker's hands clutched tightly at her hands before they let go. His eyes never left hers. Rey couldn't make herself turn away.

Was it her heart that was beating so rapidly, or was it his?

"Nera."

Skywalker stood and walked away from her. His hands clasped each other behind his back. He started to pace opposite Chewie across the fire.

Chewie set down the tools and bits of metal he had been tinkering with. He was torn between watching the Jedi Master pace a trench into the stonework, and watching Rey as she attempted to fit all of the pieces she had been given together. His eyes wore a track between them as he bounced back and forth.

Rey stared at her bandaged hands in her lap and knew that it wasn't the only time she had had them wrapped in such a way. Her heart beat grew louder in her ears. The fire's crackling died to her hearing. Her tongue was still weighed down in her mouth.

"Who was she?" How she managed to force the question from her mouth, Rey didn't know. "The woman with the light red hair."

Rey knew. She knew she knew.

She didn't want to know.

Skywalker paused from his pacing. His back was to Rey, and Rey could tell he was steeling himself for the answer. There was a line of tension that ran across his shoulders and his hands gripped each other tighter. He took a deep breath and slowly turned back to face Rey. With the flickering light of the fire, the shadows on his face seemed larger, and the wrinkles seemed deeper. It was like he had aged decades in a few moments.

"My wife." His voice was barely above a whisper. "That was my wife, Mara."

"I didn't know you had gotten married," Rey's voice matched his.

Skywalker shook his head. "We kept it quiet. There were only a few people in the galaxy to knew of the true relationship between us. We thought it would be safer that way."

The use of the past tense didn't escape Rey's attention.

"What happened?" Rey barely forced herself to say those two words. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry.

Skywalker sat down on the ground and ran his flesh hand through his hair before he started talking.

"After the attack on the Temple, I went after Ben and the Knights of Ren, to see if there was anything I could do to save him. He didn't want me to help."

Skywalker closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened them and turned away from the fire to look Rey in the eyes.

"Mara, she took it upon herself to protect some of the students that had escaped the initial ambush. I never knew what her plans were. I didn't want to know just in case someone managed to break through my defenses; I didn't want to put them in any more danger than what they were already in. It wasn't good enough."

Skywalker tore his eyes from Rey for a moment, but only for a moment. When they returned, Rey saw a wall had built up around him.

"She was ambushed. Somehow they managed to track her ship. We were in contact at the time and I heard the beginning of the attack. By the time I had managed to travel through hyperspace to her aid, it was over. I boarded a dead ship, and… and…"

Rey needed to hear the rest of the story. Her hands were clenched tightly and the fists were pressing down into her thighs. Pain flared through her hands again, but she ignored it.

"I found her in the commons area of the ship. I thought she was gone, but as I held her in my arms, she opened her eyes. She barely had the strength to speak before I… before I lost her."

Chewie gave a low mournful howl and Rey wanted to join in. The sheer amount of pain and grief radiating from the man would have been enough to force Rey to fall to her knees if she were standing.

Rey didn't understand. She had never felt anything like this before. There was no large civilization she dealt with while on Jakku, only the scavengers whose circumstances were eerily similar to her own. If Rey had felt any of their emotions, it would have been difficult to determine which were hers and which were theirs. Not that it mattered. She was more worried about when she was going to eat next rather than any feelings of anyone around her. Even when she was amongst the Resistance, there was nothing as strong as this. Rey had felt the range of emotion beings could feel, and while it amazed her, it did nothing to prevent her from continuing on.

Even when Han was murdered, she still had the strength to fight. Perhaps it was because he wasn't Force-Sensitive that she found herself still able to move under her own power. Not that it had been easy with the shock and horror of what had happened in front of her.

But this? This was more than she had ever experienced before. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she watched the man grieve. He didn't bother to hide his face as his own tears rolled down into his beard. He searched her face for a moment, before something changed in him.

The pain faded from the back of Rey's mind. It didn't disappear entirely, she could still feel it emanating from him, but Rey found she could sit straight again. Her hands loosened from their grip and she flexed her fingers.

"Who is Nera?"

Rey hadn't realized she wanted to ask the question until it was hanging out in the open.

Everyone stopped. They connected eyes with everyone there in turn before they turned away. Chewie's hands twitched as he looked down at the mechanics he had set down when Skywalker and Rey returned. Skywalker had stared at the flames for a moment after he broke contact there and closed his eyes. Rey stared down at her lap, eyes wide as she berated herself.

He wasn't going to answer such a question. It wasn't her business as to who Nera was. She had no right to ask. She was a no one. Whoever Nera was, they were obviously someone who meant a great deal to him.

"She was your daughter, wasn't she?"

Both Chewie and Skywalker turned to look at Rey. Even Artoo had awoken from his hibernation and swiveled his dome so the viewport could look at her. Rey felt small. Why had she opened her mouth? She stared back at the beings watching her and swallowed.

Skywalker was watching with a look Rey couldn't comprehend. There seemed to a mix of emotion there. His mouth was quirked as if he were about to smile at any moment, but his eyes returned to the defeated look that had been in them when they had first met up on the clifftop. His tears had stopped falling.

"She is."

Chewie let out a rough rumble in the back of his throat before he stood, took the components he was working on and started to walk back to where they had left the ship. Rey barely afforded him more than a glance as he left.

"Whatever happened to her Master Skywalker?"

Skywalker didn't look away from Rey.

"I don't know. Mara decided that she would never be safe as long as the Knights of Ren and Snoke were out there. So she hid her. Someplace where she couldn't be found by them. By me either."

"Surely she would have told you?" Rey pushed. Her hands had clenched into fists again.

"Mara was as stubborn as they come. I was lucky to hold her in my arms one last time before she passed on."

"But she was your daughter!" Rey found herself standing and glared down at the Jedi Master. "Surely you would have been able to find out where your little girl was and retrieve her? Wasn't it your duty to keep her safe?!"

Skywalker's voice remained even.

"I was desperately searching for the answers and the way to stop my nephew. Surely you don't think that taking a child on a dangerous journey such as that would have been wise?"

"I DON'T CARE! She was your daughter!" Furious tears began to fall down Rey's face. How dare he remain so calm? How dare he try and rationalize his way out of this? How could he think that what he did was right? "You had a responsibility to protect her! It was your job to make sure that you were there; to calm her after her nightmares, to train her as she grew up, to not _leave _her on a backwater planet with _no one_!"

She hadn't realized when she started shouting at the older man, but her throat began to hurt. Everything in her seemed to hurt. Everything. Her hands, her back, her heart. And not even screaming was making it better. Her hand tightened around the cold durasteel of the lightsaber that had called out to her at Maz's place.

She didn't know when she had called it to her.

Skywalker never had the opportunity to speak. Before she realized what she was doing, she had the saber raised behind her head and was swinging it down towards the Jedi Master. She wasn't intending to kill him. There wasn't enough thought going through her head to comprehend her actions. All she knew was that he needed to hurt. Just like she had been hurt for every day she had scratched a tally in the belly of the AT-AT.

When the blue blade landed, it sunk into the stone and Skywalker was standing a few feet away. His hands were held at his side, attempting to be non-threatening, but his feet were stanced ready for when he had to spring into action.

"How could you!?" Her voice cracked as she took another wild swing.

Again, Skywalker deftly avoided the blade and stood behind Rey. His face was fraught with concentration. He said nothing.

Rey lead her turn with the blade in her hand. She swung backward, pinning him between her and the fire. His face was encased entirely in shadow when she finished her spin. She feigned a stab to his left side, then swung as hard as she could coming from his right.

That was then the blade stopped. Rey blinked at the sight in front of her.

Skywalker was holding a hand in the air close to his chest. He used the Force to stop her swing mid-motion. He stared right at Rey. The light blue of his eyes seemed to stare deep into her being and she found herself transfixed. The light blue of eyes that had haunted her dreams and nightmares for years.

With a quick tug on the Force, Skywalker pulled the lightsaber from her hand into his. He deactivated the weapon as Rey's knees gave out underneath her. She crumbled to the stones beneath her and began to sob into her bandaged hands.

"Wh—Why did you leave me? Why didn't you come back?"

The loose gravel around the fire crunched as Skywalker dropped to his knees beside her. The sound of metal against stone told her that he had tossed the lightsaber to the ground a little bit of distance away. She sensed that he hovered around her, unsure as to what he should do. The small part of her that still held tight to her dignity was glad that Chewie had left before her tantrum. She didn't need everyone to see her breakdown.

"I'm sorry," Skywalker said. "I had no idea. I thought she had left you with someone. By the time I realized, any trail Mara had left behind was gone."

Rey said nothing.

"When I finally accepted that, I wasn't the same man. I died for a second time that day."

Rey still said nothing.

"I'm so sorry." His voice cracked.

Rey didn't seem to be in control of herself. She attacked a Jedi Master, and then broke down before him. Like she was no more than a child. She should have some sort of shame at her behavior. But she was too exhausted. She grabbed onto Skywalker's cloak and curled as tightly as she could into his embrace. And he didn't hesitate this time. His arms wrapped around her. She could feel the cold of his artificial hand through her clothes, but the warmth of his real hand as it clung her to him just as tightly.

She forgot everything else in that moment. She forgot that they were on an isolated island in the middle of nowhere. She forgot that the beginning of another civil war was beginning in the Galactic Republic. She forgot about the promises she had made to General Organa-Solo, to Finn. She forgot about what happened at Starkiller Base. She forgot about raising herself on Jakku.

All that mattered were the arms that were wrapped around her now, as they had a long time ago. She was a young child, safe in her father's arms. And she never wanted to leave. She didn't want him to leave her alone again.

"I promise, little ray of starlight, I won't."

* * *

He lead her to her mother's grave as soon as the first sun began its crest over the horizon. She had been torn about whether or not she wanted to go. She wasn't sure she was ready for the sight. But Chewie insisted. And so she went.

The path was long, even longer than last night when she traversed it in the dark. Rey thought it was because she knew what was awaiting her on the other end of the path.

There wasn't much in the alcove. There certainly wasn't anything to indicate that anyone had been buried there. Not with the solid stone making up the whole thing. There was only a small monument with an inscription and a small bench in which she could sit. Rey ignored it in favor of kneeling in front of her mother's monument.

She reached out to touch the engraving done and tried to keep her tears at bay. She had been doing too much crying since she landed on this rock and didn't want to do any more. She only allowed a small sniffle to break through.

"She would have been so proud of you," Skywalker said.

Rey couldn't bring herself to call him anything else. Not yet.

She nodded but didn't turn back around.

"She loved you fiercely. I told her once that she could turn into a Rancor when it came to protecting you."

Rey wanted to smile at that. From the small pieces of memory she had pulled together since last night, it seemed to fit with what she remembered of her mother.

_Momma_.

And like that, any attempt she had to keep her composure was gone. She wasn't sobbing as much as she had been the night before, but there was no doubt there were a few tears falling from her eyes. It was almost too much. To find what she had been looking for, only to find that she had been too late. The part of her that kept her going on Jakku died, and she didn't have anything to fill that hole.

No. She did. She had promised General Organa-Solo (Aunt Leia, her mind whispered) that she would bring her brother back to the Resistance. She was a part of the Resistance now. She whirled around to face the man behind her. Rey opened her mouth to start talking when he held up his hand.

"I can't come with you to assist the Resistance. My time to fight is over."

Rey tried to keep the disappointment from showing on her face. She had come all this way, answered questions she hadn't realized, and was going to fail. Again. She had found what her heart yearned for the most when she was alone, and now she was going to be alone again.

"I can't be the hero that the Resistance needs. But if you'll allow me, I think I could help _you _be that hero."

Rey's head jerked up and her eyes widened as she tried to comprehend what exactly he was saying.

"What do you say? Do you think you could tolerate the old man while he attempts to pass on what he knows?"

It wasn't what Leia asked for. It wasn't what she expected to get when she arrived on this island. It wasn't what she expected when he refused her. But it was enough. It would have to be enough.

Rey nodded.

Skywalker smiled. A genuine smile that she had only seen in her dreams.

In her memories, she corrected.

"Well, I think that I should gather the few things I have if we are going to get back to my sister sooner rather than later. Hopefully, Chewie won't mind the extra guest in the _Falcon_." He turned to walk back up the path before he paused. He dug around in his pocket for a moment before he pulled something out and offered it to her.

It was a holo-emitter. Rey took it from his hand and held it for a moment. Skywalker gave her another smile and disappeared behind the rocks. Rey stared at the small metal disc for a moment before she activated it.

It was an image of a younger Luke Skywalker. He was smiling wide, and there was only the beginnings of a beard on his face. There was a carefree look about him that Rey had not seen before. His attention was not focused on was taking the image, but on the other individuals in the image. Next to him was a small woman with vibrant red-gold hair. One of her green eyes were closed and she seemed mid laugh. The toddler in her arms was pulling her hair and reaching for the younger Luke's beard at the same time. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the growth of hair on her father's face.

Rey stared in shock at the image of herself as an infant. For years she had been unable to see what she looked like in a mirror, let alone in a holo. She reached out to touch her mother's face. Her fingers slipped through the projection. As she had known they would.

She stared at the image for only a moment more before she closed down the projected and held the disc against her heart. She turned back to the monument Skywalker built to his wife. Rey smiled at the simple stone.

"I'll make you proud. I'll make you both proud, Momma."

And she followed her father's footsteps up the path.


End file.
